Ornette Coleman: Ornette!

Ed Blackwell | Don Cherry | Scott Lafaro | Ornette Coleman | Scott LaFaro

From Coleman's hallowed early-1960s Atlantic period comes one of a slew of classic albums that really makes a case for...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Marty Paich and the Modern Touch: Get a Boot Out of You

Paich's arrangements unite this West Coast big band in which Art Pepper is the star soloist ¬– imaginative charts, lots...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Challenge

John Stevens | Nigel Coombes | Roger Smith

Challenge is one of the key documents of the 1960s UK free improvisation movement and an important insight into the...

Reviewed by Edwin Pouncey in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Chris Hyson: Little Moon Man EP (played by Kit Downes)

Chris Hyson | Kit Downes

London-based Chris Hyson studied double bass on a Masters programme at the Royal Academy of Music. But when composing the...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Various Artists: Selected Signs III – VIII

Jan Garbareck | Eleni Karaindrou | Norma Winstone | Keith Jarrett | Heiner Goebbels | Vassilis Tsabropoulos | György Kurtág | Giya Kancheli | Betty Olivero | Steve Reich

When we think of the classic record labels of jazz, thoughts may first turn to American independents such as Contemporary,...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Rex Stewart/Henri Chaix: Baden 1966/Montreux 1971

A boisterous set with Stewart and Chaix's Swiss band, plus a later makeweight session, proving that Stewart was every bit...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Various: The Road To Jajouka

Gregor Heubner | Lee Ranaldo | Dave Dreitwitz | John Zorn | Al Maddy | Falu | DJ Logic | Billy Martin | John Medeski | Bill Laswell

For centuries, a remote village in the southern Rif mountains of Morocco has been home to the ecstatic trance rituals...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Florian Hoefner Group: Falling Up

A multi-cultural New York-based post-bop quartet led by a Bavarianborn pianist-composer drawing upon a wide range of infl uences from...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

The Margots: Pascado

Inspired by Brazilian Tropicalia and Robert Wyatt, The Margots are a six piece headed by a collaboration between Milwaukee singer...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014

Echoes of Swing: Blue Pepper

Chris Hopkins | Oliver Mewes | Colin Dawson | Bernd Lhotzky

This neat little combo has been on the go since 1997 and specialises in recasting familiar numbers in inventive ways...

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: Dec/Jan/2013/2014